RE: Legends and BBC Sessions

[mrprox@xxxxxxxxxxx (Hugh Jones)]

Brian -
Great post, we need more of this kind of informed in-your face opinion on
the list.

>Did
>anyone else notice how Tyler mispronounced "Bron-Y(r)-Aur?  I guess he
>misplaced his Blueberrry Hill bootleg before he rehearsed.

Yeah, I cringed on that one -

> I have
>always had the feeling that Aerosmith were paying lip service to the band
>without actually understanding Zeppelin's meaning.  I'm always suspect of
>people who consistently allude only to numbers on II.

Ha! Well said, and come to think of it, I agree with you once I stop &
think about it. Much as I like them, Aerosmith were obviously influenced by
The Yardbirds, but certainly *way* more aligned with The Stones than Zep in
terms of their style & approach.

>Hell, Camper van Beethoven understood more about what Zeppelin's
>essence was than Aerosmith ever will.

Right on! What a brilliant band. Anyone on this list who has never heard
the song "Waka" from Camper Van's brilliant album "My Beloved Revolutionary
Sweetheart" should run right out & track it down. Talk about the essence of
Zeppelin - everytime I hear this track I have to turn it up to ten and jump
around the room. Amazing stuff.

>2. A marginal thumbs down, as well, to the BBC Sessions.  The edits are
>pointless,

Agree.

>the sound not markedly better than the recent boots

Disagree, especially on the '69 stuff, I think they (Page, I guess) really
managed to bring out the drums and sharpen everything up. The versions on
the "Secret History of LZ" boot, which seem to come from a pre-b'cast
master tape, are incredible, but they sound flatter to me than what we now
have commercially released. I'm quite pleased with the sound on disc one,
and more aware than every at the (performance) shortcomings of the '71 show
on disc 2.

>I also was
>perplexed by Luis Rey as choice for writing the liner notes.

Luis was actually approached by Page to do it, as I understand it, because
Jimmy enjoyed the "Live" book and wanted someone with "passion," which Rey
certainly has, to write the notes.

>He's pretty
>upfront about his disappointment with both the 3/3/69 and 4/1/71 sessions
>in his book, so I find it ironic he has to try to endorse them in print
>for this release.

It's true, in fact I was ribbing Luis about this the other day - his
comments are certainly toned down a bit from what was in his book - but he
is going to be writing a review of the BBC set for the upcoming Proximity
which I think will represent his true feelings a bit more. And actually, I
don't think he went too overboard in the liner notes vs. what he said in
his book - he sort of approached the music from a different viewpoint, a
bit more diplomatically.

>I would have preferred David Fricke or Kurt Loder, both
>much better writers than Rey.  Granted, they might not have heard every
>unlistenable audience tape ever made of the band, but they have been
>long-time fans of the group even before the 1987-1988 rebirth made it
>hip to champion Zeppelin.

I agree that Loder & Fricke write well, but I'm tired of seeing their stuff
everywhere. I think they should have gotten Lisa Robinson to write it, what
ever happened to her? Now *there* was a champion of the band before it was
hip!

cheers & thanks for the post -
- - Mr. Prox

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